So good to see the NHS practising the openness and transparency required by the Francis report and trumpeted by the Tory Minister – sorry Secretary of State – for Health and his boss. So good of this irresponsible person (remember Lansley abolished any Ministerial responsibility for Health) to advertise a gross failure of the newly installed system that can be used to provide comparative advice for patients as well as being incorporated as a tickbox in the growing anti-manifesto.

Did any Tory-bashers notice that the vast majority of Vanguard Healthcare’s expansion of NHS contracts was during the last Labour government? …And there was me thinking that it was only the Tories who want to privatise the NHS! I guess I shouldn’t believe everything I read on some web sites.

Alternatively you could argue that the NHS contract monitoring worked, because the failure rate was picked up after 62 out of 400 patients had been treated. Whether it should have been contracted out at all is a bigger question.

Instead of making inane comments, how about making some sensible ones! Imagine how you would feel if you were one of these “guinea pigs”. I am appalled that people were treated as products on a production line and that real damage has occurred to their eyes. Were these companies using cheap materials and economising on drugs? There are no places for private companies in health care, who will have a duty to their shareholders to make the most money, that they can, at the expense of people’s health. I hope all the patients involved sue Vanguard for everything they can get and that no one else has to suffer from these nasty, private companies.

“There are no places for private companies in health care…”
Do you mean ANYWHERE in health care, or just primary care? How about supply and maintenance of primary health care equipment, such as (let’s take a completely random example!)… cataract surgery equipment.

“I hope all the patients involved sue Vanguard for everything they can get…”
Do you also think patients should sue the NHS for everything they can get when mistakes are made? That might also include in this case, because the NHS was responsible for the contract and the monitoring of the contract.